Cowlton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Cowlton is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in Colton. There are places named Colton in Staffordshire, Norfolk and North Yokshire. Although the Staffordshire origin is more common some families' names are derived from the Norfolk location.

Early Origins of the Cowlton family

The surname Cowlton was first found in Colton or Coulton, located in Staffordshire, North Yorkshire, Norfolk and Cumbria. The places had a variety of listings in the Domesday Book including Coletuna 1, Coletune (North Yorkshire) and Coltone (Staffordshire.) However, the meaning of the place names were essentially the same: "farmstead of a man called Cola or Koli" having derived from the Old English or Old Scandinavian personal name + tun. 2 The Cumbria placename was originally listed as Coleton in 1202, but its origins may have been much earlier.

One of the first records of the family was John Colton (d. 1404), Archbishop of Armagh, "said to have been born at Terrington in Norfolk. He was chaplain to William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, who may have introduced him to Edmond Gonville, the founder of Caius and Gonville College, Cambridge, of which he was appointed the first master in 1348. " 3

Early History of the Cowlton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cowlton research. Another 116 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1126, 1235, 1296, 1320, 1371 and 1404 are included under the topic Early Cowlton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cowlton Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Cowlton family name include Colton, Coulton and others.

Early Notables of the Cowlton family

Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cowlton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cowlton family to Ireland

Some of the Cowlton family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 30 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cowlton family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Cowlton surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Nicholas Colton who settled in Virginia in 1643; William Colton settled in Virginia in 1774; Thomas Colton settled in Barbados in 1679; Amos, Charles, James, John, Thomas, and William all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1870..

Citations +

Page, William (ed), A History of the County of Norfolk. London: Victoria County History, 1906. Print
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print